Hello and greetings. A question from new member:

I am scheduled to go on Schering Plough s interferon with ribavirin and already they gave me some mood enhancers. But now I found out the half life of

Message 1 of 7
, Mar 9, 2003

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I am scheduled to go on Schering Plough's interferon with ribavirin
and already they gave me some mood enhancers. But now I found out the
half life of Scherings is not as long as the La Roche brand. I wonder
what to do now. Are they both interferon alpha-2a?

I never had any treatment. My genotype is 1a. I got well over 800,000
of the hcv at this time. My insurance won't cover the interferon, so
the doc got me into the Schering program. I just pay for the
ribavirin on monthly basis, at least they said that 3 or 4 months ago
about $200 monthly. Not positive if still the case.

I have a bro who responded well to pegintron but just found out about
the dif between Roche and Schering, so never knew to ask him if he
was on one or the other. At the moment, I hope it was Schering,
because he responded so well and "eradicated" the hcv out of his
blood.

Thanks all, I look forward to joining in the discussions. I used to
really get into the research of it back a few years, but guess I
hoped I was doing just fine. My level was 600 3 years ago. Then
boosted up into the millions the last 2 years when my Pyrenees (Sugar
Bear) passed away and also my financial situation fell down
dramatically. So my attitude was tough to maintain. But I'm back. I
have to fight this and win. I believe I can.

See you,

gnewman7

Claudia Kane

Greg, Roche s Pegasys is the newest peg-interferon. I did not want to wait for it to be approved by the FDA back in October so opted for Shering-Plough s

Message 2 of 7
, Mar 9, 2003

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Greg,
Roche's Pegasys is the newest peg-interferon. I did not want to wait for it to be approved by the FDA back in October so opted for Shering-Plough's PegIntron. I am genotype 1, viral count at beginning was 3.875 million and biopsy showed 2-3 inflammation and 3-4 fibrosis. I have been undetectable since my viral load test at 12 weeks. In 4 days I will hit the half-way mark and have found the sides to be managable to this point. The percentage points between the success rate of the 2 is 1-2% - according to my hepatologist it really isn't enough to not do one or the other. That is great that you got on the Committment to Care program...are you sure they won't help with the ribavirin too? My pre-insurance cost for the ribavirin is over $1000 per month....
Claudia

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Tatezi

Welcome to our group....we re glad to have you join us. We ve been pretty quiet lately but ask any questions you want and someone will pop up with an answer

Message 3 of 7
, Mar 9, 2003

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Welcome to our group....we're glad to have you join us. We've been pretty quiet lately but ask any questions you want and someone will pop up with an answer for you.

I am 1b and didn't respond to the Rebetrol tx that preceded the new pegylated versions. I believe that the FDA only approved Roche's Pegasys with Copegus back in December and to my knowledge no one here is using Pegasys but rather Scherings peg tx...or at least no one has brought it up.

For technical medical type questions you might want to put attn: Doc or Claudine in the subject line.

Your viral load is on the low side...mine was 2.4 million and that was mid range. But since I've not had insurance for 16 months, I have no idea where it is now. I was laid off before I could get my 6 month post treatment labs. But my viral load did drop considerable while in tx.

Even if you don't respond to tx, it is still doing good for you. I helps slow the progression of fibrosis and has sometimes reversed the progression. I don't have facts and figures but Claudine and Doc do.

When you start tx you may have a rough time...everyone responds differently. Don't hesitate to ask us about anything you are experiencing...you will find that information is more readily available here with those of us who have been there and done that.

I am scheduled to go on Schering Plough's interferon with ribavirin
and already they gave me some mood enhancers. But now I found out the
half life of Scherings is not as long as the La Roche brand. I wonder
what to do now. Are they both interferon alpha-2a?

I never had any treatment. My genotype is 1a. I got well over 800,000
of the hcv at this time. My insurance won't cover the interferon, so
the doc got me into the Schering program. I just pay for the
ribavirin on monthly basis, at least they said that 3 or 4 months ago
about $200 monthly. Not positive if still the case.

I have a bro who responded well to pegintron but just found out about
the dif between Roche and Schering, so never knew to ask him if he
was on one or the other. At the moment, I hope it was Schering,
because he responded so well and "eradicated" the hcv out of his
blood.

Thanks all, I look forward to joining in the discussions. I used to
really get into the research of it back a few years, but guess I
hoped I was doing just fine. My level was 600 3 years ago. Then
boosted up into the millions the last 2 years when my Pyrenees (Sugar
Bear) passed away and also my financial situation fell down
dramatically. So my attitude was tough to maintain. But I'm back. I
have to fight this and win. I believe I can.

Hi Greg.I (was?) 1a too.After 2 standard treatments I did the Plough Scheering PEG-treatment.I responded and after 6 months of stopping treatment I was

Message 4 of 7
, Mar 10, 2003

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Hi Greg.I (was?) 1a too.After 2 standard treatments I did the Plough Scheering PEG-treatment.I responded and after 6 months of stopping treatment I was undetectable.In one month time I hve a second PCR(Test to see of the virus is still in the blood.)So you have a great change of clearing the virus.Be carefull with the anti-depressants it may backfire check out what they are going to give you ,if at all.Willem.

I am scheduled to go on Schering Plough's interferon with ribavirin
and already they gave me some mood enhancers. But now I found out the
half life of Scherings is not as long as the La Roche brand. I wonder
what to do now. Are they both interferon alpha-2a?

I never had any treatment. My genotype is 1a. I got well over 800,000
of the hcv at this time. My insurance won't cover the interferon, so
the doc got me into the Schering program. I just pay for the
ribavirin on monthly basis, at least they said that 3 or 4 months ago
about $200 monthly. Not positive if still the case.

I have a bro who responded well to pegintron but just found out about
the dif between Roche and Schering, so never knew to ask him if he
was on one or the other. At the moment, I hope it was Schering,
because he responded so well and "eradicated" the hcv out of his
blood.

Thanks all, I look forward to joining in the discussions. I used to
really get into the research of it back a few years, but guess I
hoped I was doing just fine. My level was 600 3 years ago. Then
boosted up into the millions the last 2 years when my Pyrenees (Sugar
Bear) passed away and also my financial situation fell down
dramatically. So my attitude was tough to maintain. But I'm back. I
have to fight this and win. I believe I can.

Mood enhancers huh? Haven t heard them called that but whatever works! I assume you are talking about antidepressants? Which one(s) do you take? I take

Message 5 of 7
, Mar 10, 2003

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Mood enhancers huh? Haven't heard them called that but whatever works! I assume you are talking about antidepressants? Which one(s) do you take? I take Wellbutrin as SSRI's make me groggy all the time.

Alley
Grand Prairie, Tx

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Patricia J. Hauldren

Be sure when yall talk about viral load and start doing comparisons that they ve changed the units (in America) from copies to IU (International Standard).

Message 6 of 7
, Mar 10, 2003

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Be sure when yall talk about viral load and start doing comparisons that they've changed the units (in America) from copies to IU (International Standard).

Take your old "copies" (forgot what exactly they were called) and divide by 3 to get the approximate # of IU. Conversely, multiply IU by 3 to get an approximate # of copies.

My original viral load was 2.3 million. That would be about 766,666 IU. My last PCR (viral load) was greater than 855,000 after clearning for a year on treatment. So that means I was greater than 2.5 million copies. I think (THINK, not sure) the IU test is more sensitive in the lower range than the copies and it doesn't seem to go as high. I'm sure Doc or someone can clarify that.

Alley
Grand Prairie, Tx

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Doc

The expression of HCV viral load in IU is a step towards standardization of the results. The testing and its sensitivity remains the same, the manner in which

Message 7 of 7
, Mar 11, 2003

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The expression of HCV viral load in IU is a step towards standardization of the results. The testing and its sensitivity remains the same, the manner in which it is expressed will change. Just like the temperature being in "F " in the USA and " C " in the rest of the World.

1 IU ~ 3 Copies

Best Wishes,

Dr Sharat Misra MD,DM,FACG

----- Original Message -----
From: Patricia J. Hauldren
I think (THINK, not sure) the IU test is more sensitive in the lower range than the copies and it doesn't seem to go as high. I'm sure Doc or someone can clarify that.

Alley
Grand Prairie, Tx

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